Dallas has officially been renewed for a third season and, honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I’m pleased, there’s a chance to see more original characters (specifically and hopefully Gary, Val, Lucy, Ray & Donna) there’s also a chance that Southfork will be magically restored to its original layout (I’m not holding my breath) and of course it means that Dallas will continue rather than be consigned to the graveyard of television.
On the other hand, having grown increasingly frustrated with the show over the last two seasons, I don’t hold out much hope that things will get any better, in fact I think they will get worse. Cynthia Cidre and co have already shown an annoying and puzzling willingness to deliberately mislead the fans (as to Pam Ewing’s possible return-it was heavily hinted several times that the character was alive and could be coming back into the show-the truth was that Cidre never had the slightest intention to bring Pam back and she knew it the whole time-the only person who had the decency to try and spell it out for the fans was Victoria Principal herself)
Established history has been changed several times (Cliff’s character, section 40 now section 18, Katherine Wentworth leaving Cliff anything in her will, ‘Barnes Global’ wherever the hell it came from, Rebecca Wentworth’s will etc etc I won’t go on) and again the production company stated that everything that happened in the original was considered ‘bible’ on the new series. Obviously this is in no way true. I don’t trust anything now that I hear (or read) the production team have said (I’m looking you at you Ms. Cidre). The exception to this is when Cynthia Cidre told, in an interview, William Keck of Tv Guide what was in store for Dallas season 3 and it sounded totally boring-I truly believe that will happen. The further Dallas 2.0 progresses the more away from the original it gets and the more unrecognisable as ‘Dallas’ it gets and I think this is deliberate by the producers to make it more ‘their’ show and less the show that the fans fell in love with when it originally aired. Of course, I could be wrong and I hope I am. Will have to wait and see.

19 Responses to Dallas renewed for season 3

Hello my friend…Reading your article, one would think that you absolutrely hate the show…I understand some of your concerns and disappointments about the show and some of the twisting of history, but overall, I think it’s been more good than bad. I do think that there is no question that Season 3 will be extremely challenging for the writers. In year 1, all was exciting, you can spend that year just catching everyone up and introducing the characters, in Season 2, our beloved JR passed-on, and they were able to get an entire season nearly out of that storyline. Season 3, where do we go? This year will be tough and I believe entirely that this is a make or break year for Dallas. Cidre and her team are really going to have to spice up the writing and find a way to basically re-invent the show. Cliff is super wealthy and in a “Mexican” prision…he can be out in a week with a well-placed payment…..

Season 3 suggestions: 1. More Linda Gray in a Lead role. She was smoking hot in her taking on the governer and TESHA. Her performance at JR’s grave was EMMY-WORTHY. 2. They need to bring back Gary, Ray, Lucy, Val, etc…. I get that there’s only so much air-time, but involve them more than just at Southfork parties. 3. Where’s the OIL? We can have the in-fighting at Southfork, but let’s have some “company” battles. In the old show there were anywhere from 3-5 different oil companies scheming against each other at the same time. 4. OIL BARON’S BALL ANYONE? These get togethers were historic, and should be brought back, it’s a damn tradition…it is Dallas. 5. Bring back Katherine Wentworth as a worthy-villian, that would be great and good for the show. Besides, she’s much more believeable than Harris Ryland. 6. Not a bad idea to bring back James and JR’s son with Cally. A battle between the brothers and cousins for the company, definitely fun to watch. 7. Can someone please make Ann Ewing more interesting. First, don’t let her cry anymore…enough. She needs to toughen up and create some more sizzle for her and Bobby whether it be good or bad. 8. I know this won’t happen, but would also like to see Southfork restored on some level to it’s classic look. I know it’s 25 years later and one has to assume changes have been made, but to basically rip it out and change it all, come on! 9. JR is not with us anymore, but damnit, I don’t want to see a single episode pass without his name being mentioned. 10. Personal Message to Cidre, do whatever you have to do to keep this story interesting and alive. Dallas is not a television show, it’s an American Institution that should NEVER die. Don’t fail us in Season 3.

Thanks for commenting. I know I must give the impression I hate the show, I don’t, I just find it really frustrating when it could be great but the powers that be, that are in charge of it, don’t seem to have the right idea about how to do it. Just a few small changes would make the whole much easier to accept (changing the interior of Southfork back how it was, giving a decent explanation for why Cliff went back to his feud with the Ewings, proper attention paid to continuity and history of the show, original characters brought in for longer periods than just ‘hi’ & ‘bye’ cameo appearances etc) I absolutely agree with everything you’ve said. I think the writers will have problems with this season. I think the show can survive without JR, but if original characters continue to be ignored in favour of the introduction of more bland new characters I don’t think the show will survive beyond the next season. That said there are things I like, Judith Ryland and Ann Ewing. I think Ann may get a bigger opportunity to shine now that Pam is officially ‘dead’, and hopefully the producers will realise what an asset they have in Judith Light and bring her back to the show next season. Personally I would rather see her as a permanent cast member then any of the other new characters they’ve introduced. I sincerely hope the Ramoses all disappear overnight.
Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy are two reasons I will be watching in season 3, Linda especially. It would be great if an original character were to be brought back on a more full-time basis. I think Gary or Ray would be an excellent addition, especially as they would give Bobby a brother to spark off of, but would be great to see any of the original cast back, it feels, to me, like there’s an imbalance between original and new characters on the show-especially now with JR gone. I think Ewing Oil is badly missing from the show, no explanation as to what happened to it over the last 20 years, I know Cliff took it over but then what happened-and with the Ewings now owning two thirds of Barnes Global (which is now Ewing Global) do they have Ewing Oil back again also?
It would be great to see the Ewings going at it at the Oil Baron’s ball, that was something else that was cocked up in the first season with them attending the Cattle Baron’s Ball. I think it was explained away at the time that the Ewings were no longer in the oil business thus would have no reason to attend the Baron’s ball (which completely ignores the fact that John Ross, desperate to become a big name in oil, would most likely have gone to it). It would be great if Katherine came back, I know Cynthia Cidre said in the tv guide interview that she may still be alive, but after the misleading of fans over the Pam issue I’ll believe it when I see it. I would most definitely like to see JR’s other sons, return and stir up trouble, sadly it seems they have been erased from the show, but who knows maybe with more time to plan for season 3 Cidre and co. will finally explore the Dallas history fully. I second your message to Cynthia Cidre.

The SHOW SUCKS, CIDRE is a MORON she led everyone on with a possible PAM EWING return. The only reason I watched the series this long holding out hope Pam was returning. After Principal was not asked to return originally by CIDRE I don’t blame her for not wanting to return. The show is BORING as all get out and bares no resemblance to the original at all. Only Duffy and Gray remain and not really interested. The show will never make it as long as CIDRE is at the helm. BORING beyond belief, you lost many viewers with your promise of PAM’s return !!!

Thanks for the comment. I agree and think it’s unethical to do what Ms Cidre did and let the viewers think, and have certain members of the cast say also, that Pam Ewing could well be coming back into the show (heavily hinted that she was coming back) knowing full well that VP or any other actress had never been approached and there was never any intention to bring the character back, which makes me very distrustful of believing anything I hear CC saying in the future and puts me off watching the new season which I think will be bland in the extreme.

Thanks for the comment. I’m not sure what the production team of Dallas 2.0 are trying to achieve by rewriting established history, altering interiors to make them worse and dismissing several important characters in favour of their own bland characters and plot lines but I wish they’d stop. I don’t think they will though and season 3 could well be the last season of Dallas that I watch.

Definitely off-subject, but I was watching some old DVD seasons of Dallas, and I realized during the 1st part of the season after Bobby dies – I believe that’s Season 8? Anyway, I’m watching Bobby’s funeral and it spins to JR sitting there clearly stunned….and the thought ran into my mind….these are the ONLY 2 brothers in history who have taken part in each -others funeral and who have buried each other, LOL…so CRAZY

Good to hear from you. Haha you’re right, I think it must be the only television show where two characters have buried each other, as you’ve said, only one’s death turned out to be a dream, and people continue to take it seriously. I think that demonstrates the love that people have for the show (hopefully with longer to prepare for the third season CC will put right a few things and not continue to screw it up).

If you are watching the old DVDs, you will notice some inconsistencies between the new show and the original. In the original, JR and Bobby are like ten years age difference. In the new series, when Bobby was reading the letter from JR, it seems that the brothers are only a few years apart. Also, Cliff seemed to be totally involved and caring of his nephew, Christopher, in the original series, especially after Pam’s disappearance. In the new show, he seems to not care about his daughter and future grandkids, when he orders the platform to be blown up, even though his family is aboard.

Thanks for reading and the comment. I agree and I have noticed a lot of inconsistencies between the original (and best) Dallas and the new one, that is being cocked up left, right and centre. I don’t understand why it’s being done and why the writers and producers don’t have more imagination or ability to check facts before they alienate more viewers with endless historical and character rewrites. If this incredibly frustrating problem isn’t fixed then I think the show will sink very fast in season 3.

Kim: Good Lord, you had to go and get our host (THEEWING) started on the shows inconsistencies didn’t you, lol… Anyway, There’s not an episode of Dallas that I haven’t seen, unfortunately I go back to the original series, lol…There have been some inconsistencies in the show that I see. I honestly believe that some of this is our fault as viewers and fans of the original. I think we want the new Dallas to be pretty much identical, even down to the layout of Southfork. I think that’s partially unfair. We have to realize that this new writing team is going to try to succeed at 2 things: Staying true to the original Dallas (this keeps the loyal fans watching), and secondly wanting to take the show in a new and more modern direction (which brings in the new generation of viewers). We have to expect SOME differences and it seems us fans of the old show are really railing against anything that’s been changed. While I don’t like the changing of the shows history at all (I just dont see the reason for that), I am tolerant of some oddities like Cliff becoming this Mob Boss type guy he’s become. Cliff is a great example, everyone gets uptight about where his character is now, and everyone says he was this helpless underdog before and that his new persona is not believable. We forget that Cliff beat JR on many occasions during Dallas 1.0, he had an affair with his wife, he constantly held very powerful positions that made JR sweat (O.L.M. (Office of Land Management, O.R.C. (Oil Regulatory Commission, and eventually took over Ewing Oil. Cliff was as much a powerful guy as JR, so though it’s slightly odd, I can live with where the new character has gone. If you’re a major fan of this show, we must embrace the “new” because it’s not us Dallas 1.0 fans that will keep the show going, it will be the new generation of Ewings, and the new generation of viewers falling in-love with John Ross, and Christoper, the same way we loved JR and Bobby. Dallas is pretty much my favorite television show of all time, so I’m willing to conceed some writer creativity that I don’t get to be able to watch the show come back to life again.

Thanks for the comment. I know what you’re saying, and I agree, a lot of what you’ve said is true and I know I should perhaps try to like the show more I just find it really hard to accept how different it is to the original, and I feel it makes it inferior. I think there could have been better explanations for things and some of what the writers/producers have done just seems careless. For example, Cliff Barnes return to the feud, why couldn’t someone have come up with a better explanation than the old Jock cheating Digger thing? These people get paid to write/produce etc for a living, yet it seems, to me, that an awful lot of the fans have much better ideas and we have jobs that are far removed from the world of entertainment. Just small changes would vastly improve it for me. The interior of Southfork, if that were changed back I would find the whole thing much easier to accept but as it stands it’s just one more thing that puts me off. I think it’s the carelessness that bothers me. The history of the original appears to be chopped and changed yet there’s no need to do it when alternative explanations could surely be found. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for season 3.

BTW – I was watching Season 13, episode 25-26 – you know, the really dumb episodes where JR has himself put into the sanitarium to try and obtain a signature from Clayton’s sister for WestStar Stock. Anyway, not sure if I’ve ever seen this reported, but Mitch Pileggi (Harris Ryland) is actually in those episodes. He’s presented as a patient in the sanitarium, and has many scenes one and one with JR. Pretty cool that he also staddles 1.0 and 2.0 even if it was as a different character.

Thanks for the comment. That is really interesting, and also Brenda Strong apparently appears (as a different character) as a one night stand of Cliff. Be interesting if they write that in as part of Ann’s history, it would tie her and Cliff together and give them something to fight about between the two of them.

i want elena to take on a bad girl role in season 3 and team up with cliff, break it off with christopher and take on an independent role after she has been sacked by both cousins and basically had to follow their lead in everything like a puppy. also john ross should break off with pamela ( dislike her) and reunite with his 1 and only true love elena. they are really good together because she balances him. Emma is annoying and dead weight, and drew should team up with his sister. these are basically my views and opinions on what should happen atleast. I love dallas 2012 and i will continue looking forward to the renewed season 3.🙂

Nice comments, I believe that you are going to get your wish with Elena, especially of the Season 2 finale tells us anything, it appears she is going rogue against the Ewings for the land JR stole. No doubt her annoying brother will be with her once he learns of the land stolen from “papi”…I can’t see Elena teaming up with John Ross while going all evil though, don’t see how that would work. The writers absolutely have their work ahead of them for Season 3, I can’t wait, and I will be watching the ratings closely, because I do believe this is the make or break season for the series.